


A Topiary Distraction

by hibiren



Series: Jay's Gladnis Collection [23]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gardens & Gardening, Gladnis, Gladnis Week, Humor, Kissing, Lost in a Hedge Maze, M/M, Modern Era, Silly, Summer Gladnis Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 09:14:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20273527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hibiren/pseuds/hibiren
Summary: [For Summer Gladnis Week, Day Five!] Ignis and Gladio accidentally stumble into a garden festival while out shopping and find themselves drawn to exploring a hedge maze.





	A Topiary Distraction

**Author's Note:**

> I know this one's super silly, but I love it! The image of them at a garden festival in general just makes me happy. I've always wanted to try a hedge maze, but I'm too afraid of insects to try one myself (lol!) and I'd probably have a better time in a cornmaze during the fall... hm....
> 
> Written while listening to: [Pokemon RSE Ending Theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNqiRDU3Ooc), because why not? It's both nostalgic and relaxing~

Gladio and Ignis found their day’s worth of adventure by complete accident. They’d decided to go shopping out of town and peruse the sights, but accidentally wandered into what seemed to be some kind of floral festival. Pruned bushes shaped into almost ridiculous and impossible sculptures towered over their heads, and a banner nearby fluttered in the wind, it read: “Come, stop and smell the…” followed by a long and honestly impressive list of several different types of flowers. Too intrigued to turn back, Ignis took the first steps into this flowering paradise and was greeted by an outstretched hand holding brochures out for both him and Gladio.

The woman who greeted them with the armful of brochures said, “For you! Enjoy! Don’t forget to check out the hedge maze in the back, it was set up just for the occasion!”

“Hedge maze… I see,” Ignis said, somewhat spluttering as he adjusted his glasses in an attempt to cover his flustered expression at having been confronted so suddenly by a stranger. As he walked away with Gladio closely behind him, Ignis added, “Had I known the town would be quite this… crowded, I would have asked to come another day. But while we’re here… perhaps we should see if they have any interesting plants for sale. Perhaps I can expand my spice garden…”

“Oh, no you don’t, Iggy,” Gladio chided, taking him by the arm and leading him away to sit on a bench surrounded by flower pots. “Remember, you told me not to let you buy any more seeds until you’ve used the ones you have. I think we’re still drowning in basil.”

“Alright, fair point; I did say that, didn’t I?” sighed Ignis, resting his elbow on his knee so he could hold his chin in his hand and watch the passersby as they walked and pointed and chatted amongst themselves. “I don’t plan to stay for long, we really ought to get that shopping out of the way, first… I doubt something this grandiose is a one-day event.”

“We’re already here, we might as well stick around and see what there is to look at. Let’s check that map,” Gladio said, unfolding the piece of paper that they’d been handed. As he perused, Gladio muttered out all the interesting things he saw. “There’s that hedge maze, there’s the shop - which we’re staying away from, for now - there’s a garden with some exotic flowers on display, and there’s also a topiary contest. Guess that’s what we saw a teaser for on the way in. From what I can see, this looks like an every-year thing for the locals. Wonder why we’d never heard about it? It seems like it'd catch on the news.”

Ignis half-nodded and looked down at the map in his hands. His eyes traced the pathways until he caught the grand, twisting expanse of the maze. In humor, he muttered, “I wonder if this picture is accurate? It spoils the surprise of the wandering, doesn’t it.”

Chuckling, Gladio stood and offered Ignis a hand. “Let’s go find out!”

The two wandered through the growing crowd and listened as music floated over from a band somewhere nearby, accompanying a light floral scent from the exotic garden as they walked deeper, toward a gathering crowd in front of the hedge maze. It seemed to be the most popular, and busiest, of their attractions, but that just made Gladio more determined to pull Ignis into the crowd and find a place in the line.

When they finally made their way inside, Ignis looked down at his map and at the curves and twists of the hedge maze, and the impressive sculpted plants that stood tall over their heads. It was a bit intimidating, if Ignis was fully honest with himself. “I suppose this isn’t quite like the picture, is it? Are we lost already?”

“Nah, I think I can figure this out. Just stick with me!” Gladio said, smiling despite the fact that, yes, they probably were getting lost.

As they kept walking, they ran into a few familiar faces of equally flustered people, circling back and back again, until Ignis finally asked, “We _are_ lost, aren’t we?”

Gladio turned the unfolded map in his hands upside down and squinted at it as if that would help him see the exit any clearer. Sadly, no luck. “...Alright, I give up. We’re officially lost. I’ve seen that same heart-shaped bush six times already. I counted.”

“Did you now?” Ignis asked with a chuckle, humored by the frustrated expression in Gladio’s eyes as he glared into the paper hard enough to likely burn a hole in it. “Perhaps we need to take a break. I know how to get to the maze’s center, and we can probably find the path to the exit or entrance from there.”

“...Yeah. We probably should. I’ll, uh, let you lead the way this time. After you, Iggy.”

Ignis had better luck in leading them to the large, circular opening in the hedge maze’s center, where several benches sat in rows, but no one was around. All of the maze’s occupants likely got turned around between the heart-shaped bush and the one that oddly resembled a lightbulb. They were left alone, surrounded by topiaries that took the forms of dancing animals perched atop the hedge maze’s circle, to prevent anyone from catching any cheating peeks overhead. Gladio flopped down into the nearest bench with a grumbled sigh and slapped the bench with the brochure in disgust.

“I’m never doing one of these again,” Gladio hissed, his face red.

“Come now, don’t you think this is fun? I, for one, am very much enjoying myself,” Ignis said, resting a hand on Gladio’s knee as he sat next to his partner. “Just take a moment to breathe, look at all of the flowers we’re surrounded by here, perhaps… just enjoy the time to rest. We’ll get back to it when we’ve had time to cool off. You know just as well as I do that trying to do anything while frustrated is just more likely to end in failure, and more frustration. Just breathe, Gladiolus, we’ll be fine. Trust me.” Ignis sealed in his encouraging words with a gentle kiss to his lover’s lips, and Gladio would have humored him just slightly more, had the sounds of footsteps not echoed dangerously close to one of the pathways behind them.

Clearing his throat, Gladio said, “Let’s save that for later, if we get out of here in time.”

“You mean _when,_ don’t you, love?”

“Okay, _when._ It better be soon, I don’t know how much longer I can wait…”

**Author's Note:**

> This is vaguely reminiscent of the time Alec and I were in Disney World and suddenly were overwhelmed in garden things EVERYWHERE, and we realized it was because of course, we'd unknowingly chosen the perfect time to go - right in the middle of the Flower and Garden Festival, I believe it was! It made our inner gardener hearts very, very happy. Why not use that as inspiration for Gladio and Ignis? :D


End file.
